Deuteronomy 26

1When you have entered the land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you have taken possession of it and settled in it,

2you are to take some of the first of all the produce of the soil that you bring in from the land Yahweh your God is giving you. Put it in a basket and go to the place that Yahweh your God chooses to make his name dwell.

3Go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to Yahweh your God that I have come into the land that Yahweh swore to our ancestors to give us.’

4The priest is to take the basket from your hand and set it down in front of the altar of Yahweh your God.

5Then you are to declare before Yahweh your God: ‘My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt with only a few people and lived there as a foreigner, and there he became a great nation, powerful and numerous.

6But the Egyptians mistreated us and oppressed us, and they forced hard labor on us.

7So we cried out to Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our misery, our toil, and our oppression.

8Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror, and with signs and wonders.

9He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10So now I have brought the first of the produce of the soil that you, Yahweh, have given me.’ Then set it down before Yahweh your God and bow down before Yahweh your God.

11You, the Levite, and the foreigner living among you are to rejoice in all the good things that Yahweh your God has given to you and your household.

12When you have finished setting aside the full tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.

13Then say before Yahweh your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, in keeping with all the commandments you gave me. I have not turned aside from your commandments or forgotten any of them.

14I have not eaten any of it while I was in mourning, I have not removed any of it while I was unclean, and I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done everything you commanded me.

15Look down from your holy dwelling place, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us, as you swore to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

16This very day Yahweh your God commands you to follow these statutes and ordinances. Be careful to follow them with all your heart and with all your soul.

17Today you have declared that Yahweh is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and obey his voice.

18And today Yahweh has declared that you are his people, his treasured possession, as he promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments,

19and that he will set you high above all the nations he has made, for praise, fame, and honor, and that you will be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as he promised.”